Posted October 7, 2011
Employment report mixed
The construction and mining industries both gained jobs during the month of September, but manufacturing lost 13,000 jobs.
Total nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 103,000 in September, and the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Construction employment increased by 26,000 over the month, after showing little movement since February. The over-the-month gain was due to employment increases in the nonresidential construction industries, which includes heavy and civil construction.
"With private sector demand inching back up, the construction industry is finally on the brink of recovering from years of hardship and job losses," said Stephen E. Sandherr, chief executive officer of Associated General Contractors of America regarding the uptick in construction employment. "If Washington continues to cut infrastructure funding instead of addressing out of control entitlement spending, the industry will lose whatever momentum it picked up in September."
Mining employment continued to trend up in September.
Manufacturing employment has been essentially flat for the past two months.
